Software defined infrastructures that encapsulate physical server resources into logical resource pools

ABSTRACT

A software defined infrastructure (SDI) makes available a subset of a computer server&#39;s resources to a cloud solution or workload. Multiple subsets of resources can be combined in a SDI to provide a logical resource pool. This allows cloud administrators to create software defined infrastructures derived from the partial capacity of a collection of systems. The resources defined across the physical boundaries of a computer server can then be made available to host deployment of cloud workloads. The infrastructure resource pool can be selected upon deployment of a cloud workload.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This invention generally relates to allocation of resources in anetworked computer system, and more specifically relates to softwaredefined infrastructures that encapsulate physical server resources intological resource pools to share the resources of the physical serveracross multiple cloud solutions or workloads.

2. Background Art

Cloud computing is a common expression for distributed computing over anetwork. Cloud computing is commonly used to refer to network-basedservices which appear to be provided by real server hardware but areprovided by virtual hardware or virtual machines (VMs). The virtualmachines are simulated by software running on one or more real machines.The virtual machines do not physically exist and can therefore bedeployed where needed and dynamically scaled without affecting the enduser.

Software Defined Environment (SDE) is a term introduced by InternationalBusiness Machine Corporation (IBM). SDE is part of its “software definedeverything” vision. An SDE can be used to control the entire computinginfrastructure including compute resources, storage and networkresources to the type of work required. By dynamically assigningworkloads to resources based on a variety of factors, including thecharacteristics of specific applications, the available resources, andservice-level policies, a software-defined environment can delivercontinuous, dynamic optimization and reconfiguration to addressinfrastructure issues.

BRIEF SUMMARY

An apparatus and method for a software defined infrastructure (SDI) thatmakes available a subset of a computer server's resources to a cloudsolution or workload. Multiple subsets of resources can be combined in aSDI to provide a logical resource pool. This allows cloud administratorsto create software defined infrastructure derived from the partialcapacity of a collection of systems. The resources defined across thephysical boundaries of a computer server can then be made available tohost deployment of cloud workloads across multiple different clouds. Theinfrastructure resource pool can be selected upon deployment of a cloudworkload. This selection may be driven by policies governing theplacement of the workload by matching the workload to the featuresprovided by the resource pools making up the software definedinfrastructure.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following more particular description of preferredembodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cloud computing node;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a cloud computing environment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of abstraction model layers;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example physical server with theserver's resources divided into two software defined infrastructures asdescribed herein;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram with the resources of two physical serversdivided and shared into two software defined infrastructures asdescribed herein;

FIG. 6 is another block diagram with the resources of two physicalservers divided and shared into or among two software definedinfrastructures as described herein;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example of softwaredefined infrastructure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram that represents a view screen of a simplifiedgraphical user interface for creating and managing an SDI;

FIG. 9 is a diagram that represents a simplified graphical userinterface for selecting and aggregating unallocated resources into anSDI; and

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for encapsulating a physicalserver's resources into multiple resource pools to be used by one ormore workloads in a cloud environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior art systems typically require that the full capacity of a physicalserver's resources be configured and available to a single cloudsolution. Under-utilization of available compute resources may occurwhere the full set of a physical server's resources are dedicated to agiven infrastructure deployment for cloud workloads. Users ofvirtualized high end power systems are particularly unable toefficiently utilize the available capacity of a physical server inmultiple cloud instances. A power system is a computer system having asignificantly large computing capability. In such systems it isdesirable to share the computing capability with multiple VMs. Powersystems clients would prefer to dedicate only part of a physicalsystem's resources to a given cloud deployment and/or to a given type ofworkload which is not supported in prior art systems.

The claims and disclosure herein provide mechanisms and methods for asoftware defined infrastructure (SDI) that makes a subset of a computerserver's resources available to a cloud solution or workload. Multiplesubsets of resources can be combined in a SDI to provide a logicalresource pool. This allows cloud administrators to create softwaredefined infrastructure for use in software defined environments derivedfrom the partial capacity of a collection of systems. The resourcesdefined across the physical boundaries of a computer server can then bemade available to host deployment of cloud workloads. The infrastructureresource pool can be dynamically selected upon deployment of a cloudworkload. This selection is driven by policies governing the placementof the workload—matching the workload to the features provided by theresource pools making up the software defined infrastructure.

As used herein, a software defined infrastructure (SDI) is specificexample of a software defined environment in a data center environment.The SDI provides a virtualization of resources such as virtualinput/output servers (VIOS). As used herein, a hypervisor manages thevirtualization of the server's resources, meaning it manages anenvironment where multiple virtual machines are hosted on a singlephysical computer system. The hypervisor is responsible for allocatingand managing resources (e.g. memory and processor) across multiplevirtual machines running on a given power server/system.

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forloadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an example of a cloudcomputing node is shown. Cloud computing node 100 is only one example ofa suitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of theinvention described herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 100 iscapable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionalityset forth hereinabove.

In cloud computing node 100 there is a computer system/server 110, whichis operational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 110 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 110 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 110 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer system/server 110 in cloud computing node100 is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 110 may include, but are notlimited to, one or more processors or processing units 120, a systemmemory 130, and a bus 122 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 130 to processing unit 120.

Bus 122 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 110 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 110, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. Examples ofremovable media are shown in FIG. 1 to include a Digital Video Disc(DVD) 192 and a USB drive 194.

System memory 130 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile or non-volatile memory, such as firmware 132. Firmware 132provides an interface to the hardware of computer system/server 110.System memory 130 can also include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 134 and/orcache memory 136. Computer system/server 110 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 140 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 122 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 130 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions described in more detail below.

Program/utility 150, having a set (at least one) of program modules 152,may be stored in memory 130 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 152 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as describedherein.

Computer system/server 110 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 190 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display180, a disk drive, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user tointeract with computer system/server 110; and/or any devices (e.g.,network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 110 tocommunicate with one or more other computing devices. One suitableexample of an external device 190 is a DVD drive which can read a DVD192 as shown in FIG. 1. Such communication can occur via Input/Output(I/O) interfaces 170. Still yet, computer system/server 110 cancommunicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 160. As depicted, network adapter 160communicates with the other components of computer system/server 110 viabus 122. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 110. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) systems, tape drives, dataarchival storage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrative cloud computing environment 200 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 200 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 210A, desktop computer 210B, laptop computer210C, and/or automobile computer system 210N may communicate. Nodes 100may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 200 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 210A-Nshown in FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 100 and cloud computing environment 200 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 200 in FIG. 2 is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 3 are intended to be illustrative only and the disclosure andclaims are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided.

Hardware and software layer 310 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes, in oneexample IBM System z systems; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)architecture based servers, in one example IBM System p systems; IBMSystem x systems; IBM BladeCenter systems; storage devices; networks andnetworking components. Examples of software components include networkapplication server software, in one example IBM Web Sphere® applicationserver software; and database software, in one example IBM DB2® databasesoftware. IBM, System z, System p, System x, BladeCenter, WebSphere, andDB2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporationregistered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

Virtualization layer 320 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients. Thevirtualization layer further includes a software defined infrastructure(SDI) 360. The SDI is described in further detail below.

In one example, management layer 330 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement of computingresources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks withinthe cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing provide costtracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computingenvironment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA. The management layer further includes a softwaredefined infrastructure mechanism (SDIM) 350 as described herein. Whilethe SDIM 350 is shown in FIG. 3 to reside in the management layer 330,the SDI 350 actually may span other layers shown in FIG. 3 as needed.

Workloads layer 340 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transactionprocessing and mobile desktop.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The software defined infrastructure (SDI) as used herein is a groupingor pool of resource objects from one or more physical servers and theirvirtualized environments. One or more subsets of resources are groupedtogether in the SDI to provide a logical resource pool. An example of aresource object is a virtual I/O server (VIOS). A physical machine mayhave more than one VIOS to achieve high availability. If one VIOS on aphysical server fails the VMs still have access to their I/O via asecond VIOS (this is called multi-path I/O). In addition, if there are ahigh number of VMs on a given physical server, the system can loadbalance the I/O serving across multiple VIOSs. High performance systemsmay have 4, 6 or 8 VIOS per physical system.

An SDI could be a group or pool of VIOSs or a pool of software licenseentitlements (described further below with reference to FIG. 6) that arerequired to run a given cloud workload. An SDI with a VIOS pool iscomposed of all the VMs and workloads that are receiving I/O from one ormore VIOS in the pool. For example, a physical server may have two VIOSpools, a “production” VIOS and a “development” VIOS. Each VIOS pool ownsa set of physical I/O adapters for storage and network and in turnserves virtual I/O to the respective set of workloads in that SDI (prodand dev). The SDI allows cloud administrators to create software definedinfrastructure derived from the partial capacity of one or more systems.The resources defined across the physical boundaries of a compute servercan then be made available to host deployment of cloud workloads.

As introduced above with reference to FIG. 3, the virtualization layerincludes a software defined infrastructure (SDI) 360. Further, themanagement layer includes a software defined infrastructure mechanism(SDIM) 350 that resides in the management layer 330 or may also residein the other layers shown in FIG. 3. The SDIM 350 sets up the SDI 360 onthe virtualization layer to provide a subset of a computer server'sresources in the hardware layer 310. The SDI, a virtual resource canthen be provisioned to a cloud solution or workload in the workloadslayer 340. The workload will then see the portion of resources of theSDI as if it were a complete resource. This allows the encapsulatedportion of resources in the SDI to be used by the workload in atraditional manner but more efficiently utilize the hardware resource bybeing able to divide it up to multiple SDIs that may be used by multipleworkloads.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates a physical server with theserver's resources divided into software defined infrastructures (SDIs)as claimed herein. In this example, the resources of the physical server410 are divided into SDI1 412 and SDI2 414. In this example, thesoftware defined infrastructures are each supported by a single virtualinput/output server (VIOS), SDI1 412 has a VIOS1 416, Similarly, SDI2414 has a VIOS2 418. FIG. 4 illustrates a very simplified example. It isunderstood that in practice the physical server could be divided intoany number of SDIs and have any number of virtual I/O servers. Whenclient workloads are provisioned into the SDI as described below, theclient workloads may be provisioned into one or more logical partitions(LPARs) 420 in the SDI as shown. Dynamic LPARs may also be used in theSDI. Dynamic LPARS may be used to dynamically adjust the VM resources tomeet a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates two physical servers witheach of the server's resources divided into software definedinfrastructures (SDIs) as claimed herein. In this example, the resourcesof the physical servers 510A, 510B are divided into SDI1 512A and SDI2512B. In this example, the software defined infrastructures 510A, 510Bare each supported by two virtual input/output servers (VMS). SDI1 512Ahas VIOS Blue1 514A and VIOS Blue2 5141. Similarly SDI2 512B has VIOSRed1 516A and VIOS Red2 516B.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates another example of twophysical servers with each of the server's resources divided intosoftware defined infrastructures (SDIs). In this example, the resourcesof the physical servers 610A, 610B are divided into SDI1 612A and SDI2612B. In this example, the software defined infrastructures 612A, 612Bare each supported by two license entitlement pools (LEP). The licenseentitlement pool is a group or pool of physical resources that areavailable to a customer or user under license from a vendor. Forexample, the LEP contains processor and memory resources in a cloudserver available to the user. Software defined environments can becreated as shown with shared processor pools for the purpose ofsupporting cloud workloads with specific license entitlement in theservice level agreements shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 6 two infrastructureswith differing license pool entitlements are defined; both of which spanphysical server boundaries providing a logical pool of licenseentitlement. In this example, software defined infrastructure 612A hasLEP1A 614A and LEP1B 614B. Similarly, software defined infrastructure 2612B has LEP2A 616A and LEP2B 616B.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example of softwaredefined infrastructure (SDI) 700. The SDI 700 includes a SDI definition710. The SDI definition 710 includes SDI metadata 712 that is used todefine SDI characteristics and parameters. The SDI characteristics andparameters in the SDI metadata 712 can be setup by the systemadministrator as described below. In this example, the SDI metadata 712includes a SDI name 714, SDI category 716, quality of servicecharacteristics 718 and consumption constraints 720, The SDI category716 defines the type of SDI. For example, the SDI category may beproduction, development or test. The quality of service characteristics718 may indicate quality parameters such as quality of the storage,availability, performance and network throughput of the resourcesallocated to the SDI as described further below. The consumptionconstraints 720 indicate constraints on resources as described furtherbelow. The SDI 700 further includes one or more SDI resources, where theSDI resources are virtual references to resources on physical machinesas described further below. In this example, the SDI 700 includes SDIresource A 722 and SDI resource B 724. SDI Resource A 722 may representa VIOS while SDI Resource B 724 may represent a second VIOS or a licenseentitlement pool as described above.

The quality of service characteristics 718 in FIG. 7 may indicateparameters such as quality of the storage, availability, performance,and network throughput of the resources allocated to the SDI. Examplesof quality of service characteristics could include a response time forthe VM to an application or other suitable response times. Anotherexample is the number of input/output (I/O) paths available to accessthe physical resources. The QoS characteristics could include setting astorage area network (SAN) QoS parameter to a minimum or maximum, whichindicates the level of enhancement of storage devices available to theSDI using a SAN. The QoS characteristics could also include a parameterfor high availability for the system to insure the allocated resourcehas a desired level of high availability.

The consumption constraints 720 in FIG. 7 indicate constraints onresources such as bandwidth, processors or memory. The consumptionconstraints 720 place operational limits on individual workloads withinthe SDI. The SDI mechanism 350 enforces the constraints in conjunctionwith other system services to accomplish this task. For example, theconsumption constraint could include a workload placement constraintthat specifies “Do not co-locate two different tenant users” on the samephysical server. This could be a security related constraint enforced bythe SDI mechanism that calculates workload placement onto physicalservers in a given SDI. Constraints could also be general constraints ontime and resources. For example, a consumption constraint could be“after 48 hours all dev/test workloads (VMs) expire, are de-provisioned,and the resources consumed by the workload are marked available.”

The following information is a simplified example of a first SDIDefinition 710 as shown in FIG. 7.

SDI MetaData:

-   -   SDI Name: Test Environment    -   SDI Use Category: Test    -   QoS:        -   Response time: 1.0 second        -   Redundant I/O paths: no        -   SAN QoS: Minimum        -   VM Availability: High Availability Not Required    -   Constraints:        -   VM expiration: 48 hours

The following information is another simplified example of a SDIDefinition 710 as shown in FIG. 7.

SDI MetaData:

-   -   SDI Name: Production Workloads Cloud    -   SDI Use Category: Production    -   QoS:        -   Response time: 0.1 seconds        -   Redundant I/O paths: yes        -   SAN QoS: High        -   VM Availability: 99.99999%    -   Constraints:        -   VM expiration: None        -   Tenant Users: Do not co-locate

There are various tasks involved in creating and managing the SDI. Inthe illustrated example herein, the SDIM performs these tasks to createand manage the SDI with input from a user or administrator. Otherentities could also perform or assist in the management of the SDIs. Thetasks include defining the SDI, identifying physical servers andunallocated resources, selecting and allocating the resources,aggregating the SDI resources and then managing and deploying theresources as described further below.

The SDIM initially creates a new SDI by creating a new SDI definition asdescribed above. The SDIM identifies the physical servers that willprovide compute resources to the new SDI. This may include administratorinput of the physical servers that will back the SDI. The SDIM alsoidentifies the resources that exist on the physical servers selectedthat are not currently allocated to other workloads or SDIs and are thuscandidate resources to be allocated to the new SDI. The SDIM selects theresources from those identified in above that will be allocated to thenew SDI. This selection can be either automatically or via administratorinput. The SDIM may make recommendations to the administrator to assistthe administrator in making the selections. Examples of resourceallocations include a subset of processor, memory, I/O, and licenseentitlement resources from each physical server that will be allocatedto the new SDI. Resource selection is repeated for each physical serveridentified. This selection process allows the administrator to establisha SDI that is allocated only a subset of a given physical server'sresources in contrast to the prior art where the entire physical serverwas required to be allocated to the SDI. The selection of resources canbe made upon deployment of the workload. The selection is driven bypolicies governing the placement of the workload by matching theworkload to the features provided by the resource pools making up thesoftware defined infrastructure. These features may include: proximityto a resource for performance, access to a resource constrained bylicense entitlement, and redundant connection to a resource.

The SDIM allocates the resources selected above to the newly definedSDI. This allocation marks the resources in use by a SDI and ensuresthat the resources are reserved for the newly defined SDI. The SDIMallows the user to allocate the SDI resources into a pool so that theaggregate resources in the pool can be collectively managed. The SDIMalso provides metrics for the aggregate resources or pool of resources.For example, processor and memory metrics are provided to show theresources that are both allocated and available in the SDI. Metrics areprovided for each physical server that is providing resources to theSDI, along with an aggregate view that shows both allocated andavailable resources across all physical servers backing the SDI. The SDIalso manages the aggregate SDI resources.

Once the SDI is created and defined as described above, and the metricsfor the aggregate set of resources are available so new workloads can bedeployed into the SDI. The situation that the SDI is comprised of asubset of resources from multiple physical servers has been encapsulatedfrom the workload deployment software such the deployment software isnot aware of the fact that the compute resources allocated to the SDIare a subset of resources from one or more physical servers. Thisencapsulation allows the workload deployment and undeployment to thisnew SDI to be carried out in a fashion as known in the prior art usingcloud deployment software. The SDIM then allows the administrator on anongoing basis to manage the SDI resources. The SDIM allows ongoingmanagement by allowing the administrator to allocate new resources toadd capacity to the SDI or de-allocate resources from the SDI.

FIG. 8 is a diagram that represents a view screen of a simplifiedgraphical user interface 800 of the SDIM for creating and managing anSDI as described above. The SDIM user interface 800 allows a user oradministrator to specify a name 810 for the SDI. In this example, theadministrator has selected the name “Test Environment” for the SDI. TheSIM user interface 800 allows the administrator to set an SDI category812. The SDI category may be implemented with a drop down selection box.In this example, the “test” category has been selected. The SDIM userinterface 800 optionally allows the administrator to set SDI QOSparameters 814 and set SDI consumption constraints 816. The SDIM alsoallows the selection of SDI resources 818. Each of these selections bythe administrator may result in a new screen of options for theadministrator to complete the actions. For example, if the administratorselects “Select SDI Resources” by clicking 820 on the menu item 818 asshown, the administrator is shown a new menu of the graphical userinterface as shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 9 is a diagram that represents a view screen of a simplifiedgraphical user interface 900 of the SDIM for allocating resources in aSDI. As discussed above, the graphical user interface 900 is displayedin response to an administrator clicking on “Select SDI Resources” onthe menu item 818 in FIG. 8. The SDIM shows a heading of “AvailableUnallocated Resources” 910. The SDIM then determines availableunallocated resources in the cloud and displays a list 912 ofunallocated resources. The administrator may select one or more of theunallocated resources by clicking on them 914. The selected unallocatedresources are shown with a highlighted text block 916. The administratorcan then instruct the SDIM to allocate the selected (highlighted)resources 916 into the SDI by clicking 920 on the “Allocate Selected SDIResources” button 918. Each of the unallocated resources are thenincluded in the SDI resource.

The SDIM determines resources 912 that are unallocated and displays themas shown in FIG. 9. The unallocated resources 912 are portions ofphysical resources that can be virtually allocated to a SDI such that anapplication deployed to the SDI can use the resources. For example, ifthe admin selects one or more VIOS to be allocated to a SDI, then thestorage and networks that are accessible via the selected virtual I/Oservers become available to the SDI. Storage and networks that are notaccessible (but may be accessible to other I/O servers on the physicalserver) are not available to the SDI. Likewise, if the admin selects agiven LEP, then only the subset of processors on the physical serverthat carry the necessary software license entitlements (as defined bythe LEP) are allocated to the SDI.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a flow diagram shows method 1000 for an SDImechanism that provides a software defined infrastructure as describedand claimed herein. The method 1000 is presented as a series of stepsperformed by a computer software program described above as the SDImechanism (SDIM) 350. Method 1000 performs the following steps to definea given SDI that is allocated a subset of resources from one or morephysical servers. Define a new SDI to create an SDI (step 1010).Identify physical servers (step 1020). Identify unallocated resources(step 1030). Select resources for the SDI (step 1040). Allocate theselected resources to the SDI (step 1050). Deploy new workloads into theSDI (step 1060). Allow the administrator on an ongoing basis to managethe aggregate SDI resources in the SDI (step 1070). The method is thendone.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

The claims and disclosure herein provide an apparatus and method for asoftware defined infrastructure (SDI) that provides a subset of acomputer server's resources be available to a cloud solution orworkload. Multiple subsets of resources can be combined in a SDI toprovide a logical resource pool across multiple physical machines toallow cloud administrators to achieve greater utilization andoptimization of physical server resources. Software defined environmentsas described herein can provide isolation of resources for specificworkload needs such as development, operations, test and production.Using the SDIs provides an ability to manage service guarantees to coreproduction applications while at the same time providing flexibility toallow non-core applications to utilize free resources. SDIs can allowsupport of multi-tenant environments via isolated logical resource poolsindependent of physical resource boundaries.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure isparticularly shown and described above, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method executed byat least one processor for creating and managing a software definedinfrastructure (SDI), the method comprising: creating the SDI, whereinthe SDI comprises a logical resource pool having resources from aplurality of physical servers including a subset of physical resourcesavailable from each of the plurality of physical servers to provide thelogical resource pool to a workload in a cloud computing environment;identifying physical servers to provide compute resources to the SDI;identifying unallocated resources from the physical servers; selectingunallocated resources for the SDI from the identified unallocatedresources; allocating at least one of the unallocated resources to theSDI; and wherein the logical resource pool comprises a plurality oflicense entitlement pools including at least one license entitlementpool from a plurality of physical servers where the at least one licenseentitlement pool from the plurality of physical servers comprises asubset of the license entitlement pools available on the physical serverwhere the license entitlement pools of the physical server are dividedinto more than one SDI.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the logicalresource pool comprises at least one virtual input/output server (VIOS).3. The method of claim 1 wherein the logical resource pool comprises aplurality of virtual input/output servers (VIOS) located on a pluralityof physical servers.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdeploying workloads to the SDI, wherein the workloads use the subset ofresources.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the subset of resourcescomprises at least one logical partition for provisioning clientworkloads.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the logical partition is adynamic logical partition that can be dynamically managed to meet aservice level agreement.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the SDIincludes a definition that includes a name and metadata that defines SDIcharacteristics, wherein the metadata includes an SDI category, qualityof service, and resource consumption constraints.
 8. Acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor forcreating and managing a software defined infrastructure (SDI), themethod comprising: creating the SDI, wherein the SDI comprises a logicalresource pool having resources from a plurality of physical serversincluding a subset of physical resources available from each of theplurality of physical servers to provide the logical resource pool to aworkload in a cloud computing environment; identifying physical serversto provide compute resources to the SDI; identifying unallocatedresources from the physical servers; selecting unallocated resources forthe SDI from the identified unallocated resources; allocating at leastone of the unallocated resources to the SDI; deploying workloads to theSDI, wherein the workloads use the subset of resources wherein thelogical resource pool comprises a plurality of license entitlement poolsincluding at least one license entitlement pool from a plurality ofphysical servers where the at least one license entitlement pool fromthe plurality of physical servers comprises a subset of the licenseentitlement pools available on the physical server where the licenseentitlement pools of the physical server are divided into more than oneSDI; and wherein the SDI includes a definition that includes a name andmetadata that defines SDI characteristics, wherein the metadata includesan SDI category, quality of service, and resource consumptionconstraints.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the logical resource poolfurther comprises at least one virtual input/output server (VIOS). 10.The method of claim 8 wherein the logical resource pool furthercomprises a plurality of virtual input/output servers (VIOS) located ona plurality of physical servers.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein thesubset of resources comprises at least one logical partition forprovisioning client workloads.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein thelogical partition is a dynamic logical partition that can be dynamicallymanaged to meet a service level agreement.
 13. A computer-implementedmethod executed by at least one processor for creating and managing asoftware defined infrastructure (SDI), the method comprising: creatingthe SDI, wherein the SDI comprises a logical resource pool havingresources from a plurality of physical servers including a subset ofphysical resources available from each of the plurality of physicalservers to provide the logical resource pool to a workload in a cloudcomputing environment; identifying physical servers to provide computeresources to the SDI; identifying unallocated resources from thephysical servers; selecting unallocated resources for the SDI from theidentified unallocated resources; allocating at least one of theunallocated resources to the SDI; deploying workloads to the SDI,wherein the workloads use the subset of resources; wherein the logicalresource pool comprises a plurality of license entitlement poolsincluding at least one license entitlement pool from a plurality ofphysical servers where the at least one license entitlement pool fromthe plurality of physical servers comprises a subset of the licenseentitlement pools available on the physical server where the licenseentitlement pools of the physical server are divided into more than oneSDI; wherein the SDI includes a definition that includes a name andmetadata that defines SDI characteristics, wherein the metadata includesan SDI category, quality of service, and resource consumptionconstraints; and wherein the logical resource pool further comprises atleast one virtual input/output server (VIOS).
 14. The method of claim 13wherein the logical resource pool further comprises a plurality ofvirtual input/output servers (VIOS) located on a plurality of physicalservers.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the subset of resourcescomprises at least one logical partition for provisioning clientworkloads.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the logical partition is adynamic logical partition that can be dynamically managed to meet aservice level agreement.